Fifty-two McDonald’s restaurant managers from across the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire gathered at the Armstrong Center in Savannah on Aug. 28 for the chance to win a new Ford Fiesta and other cash prizes as a reward for their accomplishments during the past six months.

This was the second car the Savannah McDonald’s Co-Op has given away in 2013.

The car giveaway is part of an incentive program in which managers are awarded tickets based on reaching a variety of established targets.

The tickets were entered into a raffle and five winners were drawn.

Each was given a set of a keys, and one of them started the Ford Fiesta with all taxes paid for courtesy of the Savannah Co-Op.

The winner was Almond Davis, the general manager at the McDonald’s at Waters and Eisenhower, who just celebrated his fourth anniversary working for Nina Gompels at NTG Enterprises.

Prior to coming to Savannah, Davis had worked for McDonald’s in Walterboro, S.C.

“Almond is great at recognizing his staff and helping them strive to reach their potential by balancing encouragement and discipline,” said Gompels. “He actively develops his team by being a great coach and offering inspiration to them. He shares a great smile and kind words of appreciation and care with his customers.”

The four managers who did not have the winning keys received checks for $500.

Gary Stanberry, a McDonald’s owner/operator and president of the Savannah McDonald’s Co-Op, said the restaurants’ managers are dedicated leaders who have motivated their employee teams to exceed customer expectations and enhance their experiences in the restaurants.

“We created incentives for our managers to further enhance our operations, and we are excited to recognize all of our managers for their contributions,” Stanberry said.